


Toy Soldiers

by igi_pigi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-12-31 08:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12128499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igi_pigi/pseuds/igi_pigi
Summary: Odin has deemed Loki unfit for battles, deciding that he shall not be a part of any henceforth.Thor has been bestowed with the task of giving this news to his brother.[Set sometime before Thor1.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was dying to do Thor POV! So here we are.

Thor lazily shifts around in his bed and slowly opens his eyes, his senses returning to him. He has no intentions of it, but the low, incessant knocking on the doors of his bedchambers has him waking up against his wish.

The warriors of Asgard have returned from the battle in Svartalfheim, Thor's 4th as the leader since taking over from Odin. A tough battle it was, many got hurt. Loki, in particular, was gravely wounded. Thor too sports a fairly visible gash running down his collarbone and chest.

Though he took no care of it upon returning and retired to his chambers right away, wanting to rest himself before they go to take care of the chaos in Alfheim. He wakes up now, having no clue of how long he has been sleeping.

"Yes?" he answers the knocking, irked to have gotten his rest disrupted. The servants should know better. "If it isn't anything important, I'd like to be left alo--"

The heavy doors creak open without warning and Odin strides in.

"Father?" Thor sits up with a jolt, drowsiness suddenly vanished. "You needn't have come here. Should have had me called." he stutters out.

"I see you've made this quite a habit now," Odin starts, stone faced as ever, and looking around his chambers instead of him, "sleeping unworried for days upon returning from battles."

He wants to explain himself, but he knows it makes no difference with his father. Rather, he focuses on not letting his uneasiness show under his scrutinising gaze. He cannot remember the last time Odin had come here. And now that he did, he is more concerned about searching his belongings for defaults than sparing his son a glance.

"It's fine." Odin puts some his nervousness to rest, examining one of Thor's old wrist cuffs in his hand. "Good actually, rejuvenating yourself. I should have done this in my time."

Thor awkwardly sits on the bed, entangled in the sheets, not knowing what to do or say. He is following Odin's gaze as he moves closer. Their trail stops at a bloodstain on the bedsheet, some of it on the pillows as well. Thor instinctively puts a hand on his clavicle upon seeing it. The wound there that stained the sheet is now healed, only a faint scar left! He looks down and runs his hand over his chest, astonished. How can this be? He hadn't as much as cleaned the blood off!

"Put something on, why don't you?" Odin clears his throat. Thor, becoming aware of his half naked state and the gesture of feeling himself up in front of his father, straightens up and looks around for _anything_  he can put on.

His eyes land on the dark blue cloak lying on the other side of the bed. He already has his trousers on, he only needs to cover the upper half up, this cloak would do. He quickly grabs hold of it, glad he did not have to get off the bed in search of apt clothing, or Father would have commented on that as well.

"Won't you ask how your brother is?" Odin asks as he is wrapping the cloak around his shoulders. Loki, yes, he had meant to go see him upon waking up. And then he did not wake up. How long has it been?

"Or you forget about his existence as well in your bid to sleep like animals?"

Sleep like animals? He would have been offended but he is used to this now. "I was about to go to him. I'm sorry, I should have sooner." he lowers his eyes.

Odin proceeds to sit at the foot of the bed. Thor immediately retreats his leg to sit cross legged.

"But you didn't." Odin looks him in the eyes. "Because he too has made this his habit now. Returning severely wounded from battles, lying hurt and bruised for days, making his mother fret and cry over him."

"He is still learning."

"He is not meant for this. He is not like us. You and me, your mother." He waits for a beat before continuing, "he is weak, he cannot do this. Or rather, he cannot keep doing this."

Ah, yes. To be reminded for the umpteenth time that Loki is a Jotun! That he is not like them. That Thor has to look after his 'weak' brother at all times. He wants to pretest but something tells him Father has come here having planned all this. To think he really believed it for a moment that he came here to see him!

"I let him go with you hoping to be proved wrong. But we cannot let him hurt himself any longer." Odin nods to seek Thor's agreement.

He doesn't nod, but asks, "so you are just going to...?"

"No. You will."

"What?" Thor looks at him in disbelief!

"He is awake now." Odin speaks as if it's nothing. "You will go to him and tell him that he will not accompany you and your warriors to the forthcoming battle of Alfheim, and any battle thereafter."

Thor doesn't know how to respond to this. Loki needs to be given more time to prove himself in the battlefield. Moreover, his involvement should be discussed with him in the first place. But to drop the news on him while he lies in pain, recovering from severe injuries is just brutal.

' _Shouldn't it be you who tells him this?_ ' Thor wants to ask. "Why me?" he does instead.

Odin gives him that mocking smile of his. "You are the leader now. It is your duty."

"Father I--"

"--Or are you pulling away from it?"

"I am not-- I--"

Odin gets up as soon as he draws out that twisted agreement from him, and starts walking towards the doors, having no patience for what else he might have to say.

"Father, please don't make me do this." Thor gets off the bed to follow his father. He begs, desperate to stop his steps, "I cannot do this. Please, Father. I'm sor--"

"--I was not asking you, Thor." Odin turns around to look at him, annoyance evident in his tone. "Consider this a command from your King, if you will. And it should be done by today. Understood?"

Thor, at a loss for words, can only stare at him.

"Understood or not?" he asks again, louder.

Both stand there, looking each other in the eyes. Eventually, Thor lowers his.

"Yes. Allfather." He speaks as stoically as he can, but his eyes decieve his expressions.

Odin turns around and leaves the bedchambers wordlessy, and Thor is left standing alone.


	2. Chapter 2

The walk to Loki's chambers was a hard one. Thor had absolutely no clue of what he will say or do there. But what choice does he have?

He wants to see some good in this act of his Fathers, wants to tell himself that he must have seen something in it that Thor doesn't right now. But the more he thinks about it, the more anger he feels towards him. He knows very well how this exchange between him and Loki would end. And it all could have been avoided if Odin had had the courage to face his son.

Thor stops a little far away from the doors of Loki's bedchambers. Before the guards there can make _any_ noise in his salutation, he signals them not to and leave as quietly. Confused they may be, but do as told.

With the hallway empty for himself, he dares to move to the door at least, which is slightly open. Loki's feeble voice can be heard as he approaches. "Mother, please, stop with this."

Great, Mother is here too! This will be fun.

"Look at me, I've never felt better. Those spells of yours are..." Thor loses track of what is being said in positioning himself behind the door, not having the courage to walk in on their personal conversation. But he cannot just stand here too.

"Loki. Would you do something for your mother?" He hears Frigga's voice now. "Don't, uh, do not go to to the next battle. That's all I ask. Just rest yourself for sometime."

Did Mother just ask Loki what he had come here to? Thor doubts he can be that fortunate.

"Mother! I cannot believe you are asking this of me?" Loki retorts instantly. "I need to be present there at all times. They would need me. Am I not an important enough part of the-- Is that what you intend to say?"

"Please lie down. Don't exert yourself."

"I am fine. I'm telling you. And I am very much capable of going into the battle."

Thor sighs. For a fleeting moment, he really believed that Loki would agree to his beloved mother's wishes and Thor would be spared the impending abomination. But now he wishes this exchange hadn't happened at all. How mad would Loki be now when Thor asks the same of him? And if he was agitated with even Mother, then he can only imagine--

"Besides, I'm a far better warrior than Thor ever will be - wouldn't you agree?" Loki's voice is suspiciously louder this time. "Come on, say it out loud, let him hear it through the walls, where he stands eavesdropping on this very private conversation of ours."

Thor freezes. He used to find joy in being caught by Loki in their hide and seek games as children. But they aren't children anymore.

"You caught me." He pushes the door further open and steps in, hoping he appears nonchalant to them. "I wanted to see how watchful you are."

Loki is sitting on the bed, and looks quite the opposite of what he was claiming a few moments ago. Frigga sits on the chair beside him, holding his hand in hers.

Thor nods in greeting at Frigga and continues, "If you truly are well enough to go to the battle - as you claim. You fared very well, I must say."

Wait no, what is he saying? He came here to say the literal opposite! Loki, however, pays no heed to his attempt of small talk. "Took you long enough to come see me."

"I'm sorry, I was sleeping." Thor tells them the truth.

"For three days?" Frigga expresses her astonishment before Loki can. Good to finally find out how long he has been cut away from the world. But the look of surprise she sports unsettles him. How many times had she come to see him as she does Loki?

"I too was hurt." He says bluntly, making no attempt to hide his emotions. It's pointless with his mother anyway.

She blinks, taken by surprise with his maligning response. Of course, she wouldn't have expected this of her obedient son. Thor too expects something out of her in return, but graceful as ever, she only smiles at him.

And that is it. She turns to Loki. "Now that your brother is here, I get to have a break from you."

They both smile at each, like some private joke Thor can never be a part of. He proceeds to sit at the foot of Loki's bed, near his feet.

"I'll leave you boys alone. Take care." Frigga gets up to pat Loki's head, then Thor on the shoulder, and leaves the chambers.

Thor faces away from Loki, watching Frigga leave, relief washing over him. This will be less chaotic now.

"I was starting to think you've forgotten about me altogether."

He turns around to face Loki. "And I'm starting to think that sleeping is a sin."

Loki chuckles. "Because anyone would see through that half-witted lie of yours."

"What makes you think it's a lie?" Thor protests, albeit jokingly. "What could I possibly be doing locking myself in my own bedchambers for three days?"

Before he can make an inappropriate joke about it, Thor speaks again. "But I am sorry. I should have come sooner. My apologies. I quit sleeping. I am never sleeping again."

Loki chuckles some more.

"You're healing quick." Thor comments on his jovial mood.

"Indeed I am." He brightens up, as if waiting for the question. "Mother had me take some mysterious herbs she made for me. I insisted her to get me in best of health before the battle in Alfheim."

Thor winces, but quickly covers it up with a smile.

"Father came by too." Loki continues, not having noticed his hesitation. "Asking if I will be well by then. I believe he too doesn't want me to miss it. And I will not disappoint him, no matter what."

Thor doesn't want to think Father did this on purpose, but it surely feels like it, now that he is here - about to face Loki. The look of determination his brother sported as he said that weakens him.

"But you don't need to go through so much trouble, brother." He tries to appear buoyant. "Rest yourself. Battles can wait."

"It's no trouble - I want to be a part of it." he tells him as casually.

"Maybe you shouldn't." He tries a bit differently. "Maybe you should heal yourself first and..."

Loki's smile vanishes, making Thor stop as well. Oh no!

"Do you not want me there? Is that what you're saying?" He asks. And Thor can see annoyance simmering beneath the unpretentiousness.

"No. I do. I absolutely do." He adds quickly, feeling helpless. "I just don't want to see you get hurt over and over again. Mother worries--"

"--What is your problem, Thor?" Loki snaps. But immediately calms down, seeing the intimidated look on Thor's face. "I am healing and I will be fine by the time we leave. Why are you so adamant on me not going?"

"Because you are not going!"

A few moments of silence follow Thor's statement, both staring at each other. Then, Loki chuckles again.

"What? Who says?" He asks as if Thor was merely jesting. "Father said this to you?"

"Does it matter?" Thor cannot hold back anymore. "The end of it is that you are not going to be a part of this and any battle henceforth. Because we cannot jeapordize your health anymore."

Realisation dawning on him, Loki looks as if he has been stabbed in the stomach. Thor feels he may have been as well. "I'm sorry, Loki. I truly am. I would never want this... I--"

"--Oh, I get this now." He starts, talking to himself and not listening to Thor at all. "You coming here and everything..."

He looks up at him. "You set this up, didn't you?"

"What?"

"You convinced father - using my wounded state as your aid - you convinced him that I should not be taken to battles anymore. So that you can establish yourself as the one and true warrior in his eyes."

These accusations aren't new for him. Sometimes jokingly, sometimes casually, sometimes with disgust and sometimes with hurt in his eyes - Loki has held Thor blameworthy at so many occasions that he has lost count. But it hurt every single time.

"Loki, I understand the hurt." He tries to find reason in this one as well. "I felt the same when he told me. But--"

"--It's a brilliant plan, Thor! I must say." He says mockingly, hysteria rising in his voice with every word. "So good that I would not expect it from a wooden-head like you. But now I see - _this is_ your trick. You are so cunning hiding behind that flamboyance that no one sees it coming."

"Brother, why are you saying this? I swear to you, I had no part in this. How can I?"

"Oh really? That is why _you_ are the one giving me this news? Right?" He scoffs. "And I, fool, thought you came here to see me."

"This is for your own good." Thor makes another futile attempt to reason with him, voice weak. "Even though it may not look like it--"

"--Oh, now I have to sit through you playing the hero as well?" Loki asks back with animated surpise. "All your tricks in a single day! Where do you get such drive, brother?"

He pretends to wait for an answer. Thor can't seem to find his voice anyway.

"I will forever be astonished by how far you could go just to humiliate me." Loki's voice is suddenly calm again. "But I really do not have the energy for it today. Spare me."

He gestures towards the doors. No, Thor cannot just leave. He needs to be here for Loki.

"Loki, try to think." He tries yet again, feeling desperation and defeat alike.

"You came here, humiliated me yet again, your task for the day is done. You can leave now." He points towards the exit again.

Thor doesn't move. Of course.

"I said leave!" He shrieks.

Thor flinches and looks at him, not having expected this. And as his eyes meet his brothers, he sees nothing but hurt.

"You knew how important it was for me to prove myself to Father in the battlefield." He makes no effort to stop the tears. "You knew! But you ruined everything. How you _always_ ruin everything!

The hurt in eyes changes to anger as soon. "All these years, all you ever did was belittle me in front of father and everyone time and time again. And you did so yet again. You must be so pleased with yourself right now!"

He tries to get up the bed to stand, but his weakness doesn't allow him to. Thor immediately gets up to help him. "Loki, don't exert yourself. Please lie--"

"--Oh will you please just stop with this act of yours?" He extends his arm to tell him to stop right where he is. "Pretending that you care for me!"

He can blame and taunt him all he wants, but he needs help right now. Thor moves forward nonetheless.

"Don't you dare touch me!" He yells out - with a devilish look in his eyes that reminds Thor of his true parentage.

Tears streaming down his cheeks, Thor retreats a step back.

"Go away." Loki says, defeated, not trying to stand up now. "Go out, be the hero. As always. Win battles while I rot in here and whole of Asgard laughs at me. Take these fake tears of yours and leave. I cannot bear your presence for another moment."

They stay motionless for a few moments. Then Loki looks up again. "Are you really that dim or am I not clear? I said leave and never return."

He cries, "Brother--"

"--SHUT UP!"

He puts both his hands on his head, as if even Thor's voice is unbearable for him.

Thor stands there, not knowing what to do, wishing he did. Anything, just anything he could do to make his brother feel alright. Every word of his is laden with such unbelievable disgust for him, so much pent up rage! This isn't just anger. This is something else.

Loki looks at him again.

"Just how shameless can you you be? Standing here like fools, rubbing salt on my wounds." He raises his voice once again. "I am so sick of you and your shadow lingering over me at all times. I never want to see your ugly face ever again... Leave me alone!"

Hurt, aching and humiliated, Thor turns around and walks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who could have (and would have the authority to) went in Thor's chambers to heal his collarbone wound with her magical herbs, while he was blissfully asleep?!


End file.
